The Final Shadow Game
by Relick
Summary: Ryou has been taken over by the Spirit of the Ring and Yugi and the gang have to save him to decide the fate of the world! But this time, stopping the spirit could mean death...
1. The Challenge

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yugioh. I'm just a helpless fanatic with a crush on Seto Kaiba.

A.N.: Hey guys! Okay… this is my very first fic. So I'm going to ask this nicely…don't get angry with me for what might happen to your favorite character. And also, I thought of this story during the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, before I heard of Isis and Malik. Their Millennium Items, however, turned out to be the same by accident. Now on with the story!! 

"W-where am I? What am I doing here?" It was dark and an evil presence filled the forest air. Ryou looked around. "I thought I was at home.."

            "Nothing to fear, my little hikari," a raspy voice replied. "Soon… it will all be over…"

            "What? What will be all over?" Ryou looked quickly around the dense trees. "Where are you? What do you want from me?!"

            "To answer your first question…" the voice answered. "I'm with you right now… in the ring you bear. What I want is your solid body!!!" 

            Ryou looked in horror at the Millennium Ring around his neck. It was glowing. "I-I remember this! This feeling of a vortex swallowing me!!!"

            His screams filled the trees of the dense forest. No one heard him. And those who did, didn't care.

            It was a regular day at Domino High School the next day. Yugi looked up and smiled at Jounochi, who was sitting across from him, looking completely shocked. 

            "I win." 

            "NO WAY!!! AGAIN!?!" Jounochi shouted. 

            "When have I ever not? It wouldn't be fair to you if I let you win." Yugi replied.

            "I know, I know. Good game, Yuge."

            That's when Anzu looked up and noticed that someone was missing. "Hey guys?" she asked. "Have any of you seen Ryou?"

            "You shouldn't have to worry so much Anzu," Honda answered. "He's probably just sick or something." Just then, the teacher walked in. "Everyone, put your cards away and take your seats. I have a special announcement." The class got silent. Yugi and Jounochi put their dueling decks into their bags. 

            The teacher continued, "We're going to have a field trip for all the geography classes." All the students cheered, except for one. Yugi noticed that Seto Kaiba, who was seated two rows away from him, rolling his eyes. Apparently, he thought he was the only sane person in the class. Yugi took his mind off Seto and asked, "Where are we going?"

            "I was just about to get to that Mr. Moto. To further extrapolate on our Ancient History unit, we're going to visit some ancient ruins in Egypt." 

            Yugi looked at his Millenium Puzzle and smiled. This would definitely be a treat for Yami. Even Seto started to look interested. The truth was that no one had ever been outside the country before, and this would be an exciting experience. 

            Yugi went home in a good mood that day. Nothing could go wrong. "Grandpa! I'm home!"

            "Hello there, Yugi." Grandpa responded. "Listen, go upstairs and unpack. I need your help with inventory."

            "Okay!" Yugi said as he ran upstairs to his room. Wedged in the door was a note that read, "To the Pharaoh."  

            "I challenge you to a duel," Yami read over Yugi's shoulder. "And this time only one of us will leave the Shadow Realm alive." 

            Yugi looked over the letter again. "There's no name."

            Yami looked thoughtful, "The Spirit of the Ring. Yugi, this battle is too dangerous to fight alone. We're going to need help." 

Relick: Alright! Sorry if this first chapter was a bit short and a bit boring. I swear it will get better! Review and once I've gotten at least 10 I'll put up the next chapter!


	2. New Recruits

Relick: *walks up on the stage in a black sparkly dress and holding a bouquet of roses* *sniff* You like me! You really like me!! First I'd like to thank my wonderful reviewers…all eleven of them. *smiles at the eleven of them, who are the only ones in the audience.* Okay… enough of this gushy stuff… *spins around and is magically in regular clothes* Alright… I'm sure you were all wondering why I wanted to wait for ten reviews. The truth is… I figured I would have time to actually write it without letting too many people down. I wasn't expecting my minimum the day after I put it up…

TO: MASTER OF BLACK CHAOS(cool name! ^__^)

            In your review, you told me to make the story have more funnyness. I don't want to give away the ending so I'll just tell you this… The Final Shadow Game is NOT supposed to be funny. It's supposed to be kinda depressing, but still full of action and excitement. But… just because I'm so nice(and I appreciate your honesty) I'll dedicate this chapter to you. This one will be a bit funnier before I get to the sad parts… If it's not your cup of tea, read Yugioh Commercials. That one is positively insane!!! ^_^

Now that that's all said and done… here be thy next chapter!!! 

"Alright everyone, hand in your permission slips so we can get started." 

Seto raised his hand. "Ummm, excuse me, Miss…"

"I know Seto, we talked about it yesterday."

Seto lowered his hand and sighed in relief. Yugi looked up from his duel with Jounochi and stared at Seto. "I wonder why Kaiba doesn't need to hand in a permission slip…" he wondered as he turned his attention back to the game. The excitement of the Egyptian trip was so overwhelming that their teachers gave their students a free week. The class would leave next week. Ryou still wasn't back in school.

            "Poor Ryou," Anzu sighed. "He must be really sick to not be in school for three whole weeks."

            "Maybe he caught one of those rare African viruses that we had to get all those shots for." Honda joked.

            "Will you two PLEASE shut up!?" Jounochi said crossly. "I'm trying to concentrate! I'm about to win!"

            Yugi made two sacrifices and played Dark Magician, destroying the Baby Dragon card Jounochi had on the field.

            "I win…" Yugi said blandly. 

            Anzu looked concerned. "Yugi, what's the matter? You seem kinda down and nervous."

            "Can you guys keep a secret?" Yugi whispered.

            "Of course you can, Yuge," Jounochi exclaimed. "We're your buds!"

            "Alright… I'll tell you." Yugi went on to explain about the challenge from the Dark Spirit he had gotten a few weeks before. Apparently, Yami had gotten another letter concerning the whereabouts of the duel.

            "The letter said, 'Meet me at the location where the Millennium Items were created. Bring friends… I want to be rid of you all…'" 

            "But weren't the Millennium Items made in Egypt?" Honda asked.

            " Exactly, Yami doesn't think this trip we're having was merely by chance. He said it was my destiny," he looked up at his friends. "OUR destiny."

            "Do you think the four of us will be enough?" Jounochi questioned.

            "Yeah! We're gonna need another head to fill in for Jounochi!!" 

            "What was that, Honda!?!?"

Yugi broke up the fight. "Chill out, you guys. I already have someone else in mind…"

"Yugi you're not thinking…"

            "You CAN"T be thinking…"

            Yugi smiled. 

            "So let me get this straight," Seto said to Yugi, as he pour some tea for Anzu. There's going to be a big battle of magic for the fate of the planet during our trip next week. And you want me to help?"

            "That's pretty much it in a nutshell," Yugi replied nervously. 

            "But what do you need MY help for?"

            "Come on, Seto!" Mokuba interrupted. "It'll be fun! Just like the fellowship in Lord of the Rings!"

            "Hmmm…Lord of the Rings…"

            "Yeah!" Mokuba continued. "And could be Gandalf!"

            "Plus," Jounochi added as he swallowed his pride. "You're extremely clever and a genius…" he said uneasily.

            The others stared at him waiting for his response. No one noticed Seto fidgeting around with something in his pocket. "I wonder if these Millennium Items have anything to do with my mother's death…" he thought to himself.

Seto stood up. "You know… you have a point." The room fell silent. Finally, he spoke again.

            "I AM a genius!!!"

            "Does that mean you're in?" Yugi asked hopefully.

            "I'm in!"           

"And so am I!" added Mokuba.

The day of the trip finally arrived, and the class could hardly contain their excitement. 

            "You behave for Mr. Moto, and I'll be home in a few weeks." Seto told Mokuba.

            "But, Seto, I have to go with you! You need people like me for this kind of mission… quest… thing…" Mokuba's eyes met up to his brother's, looking hopeful.

            Seto looked at Mokuba, and smiled. "I'll call you when we get there."

            Yugi smiled and the rest of the group laughed. Anzu called out to them. "Come on, you guys! The plane's going to leave soon!"

            As they boarded the plane, Mr. Moto turned to Mokuba and asked what he wanted to do. But he wasn't there. "Oh no!" Mr. Moto cried out.

            Mokuba pushed over a suitcase. "Owww… this is going to be a long trip. But there's no way they're leaving me behind! Look out Egypt! Mokuba's coming to town!" Just then, a few more suitcases fell on his head. "This really IS going to be a long trip."

            Miles away in Egypt, unbeknownst to Yugi and the gang, a shadowy figure in a violet cloak looked out over the ocean. A girl's slender hand escaped from the cloak, revealing a golden staff, bearing the Millennium Symbol. The girl removed the hood from her head, letting her scarlet locks flow freely. She smiled as her staff glowed. "I know you are coming, Pharaoh. Then, you will pay for what you did to me, all those years long past."

Relick: There you are! Chapter two! I'll put up the next chapter as soon as I can. Review as always and could any of you tell me how to slowly develop a relationship in a story? It would help in the next few chapters. Ja ne!


	3. A New Enemy?

Relick: HI EVERYONE!!! I'm surprised no one was mad at me for taking so long! Ya see, I had the good juicy part of the chapter planned out already, but I was having trouble starting up! Also, I started working on Yugioh Takes the Stage for a while and wasn't really thinking about this one…But I am now!!! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the elusive chapter 3 of The Final Shadow Game!

A/N: I decided to call Jounochi Jou from now on…I just to lazy to write it out! And be prepared for several flashbacks. Also, regarding the last chapter… I don't own Lord of the Rings. Nor do I own Yugioh. Just the story and any characters you don't recognize. ^______^

Everyone was exhausted from the flight from Japan. And they all had every right to be, being that it took three hours to get to Egypt. As soon as Yugi opened their hotel room door, Jou fell over on the floor, already asleep. Yugi and the others all stepped over him, except for Seto, who stepped directly on top of him. Jou yelped out in pain, but then went back to sleep after giving Seto a dirty look. Yugi tried to climb into one the beds, but missed and fell face first on the floor. Just then, something fell onto his head. Yugi shook his hair out to find three golden pieces fall off his head. Before he could look more closely, Seto suddenly grabbed the pieces out of Yugi's hand. 

"Give me those!" Seto shouted, crossly. 

"What are they?" Yugi asked.

"It's my mother's necklace," he replied. 

Then Anzu got into the conversation. "But, if that necklace is your mom's, why do you have it?"

Seto started to get annoyed. "Because she's dead!!" 

Somewhere in Cairo, Mokuba wandered aimlessly, extremely exhausted. "Mokuba? What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked. Mokuba looked up, tired and sweating, to see warm, brown, concerned eyes staring at him.

"Ryou! I thought you were sick!"

Ryou looked at him strangely, and was unknowingly taken over by the Spirit. "No, Mokuba, I'm feeling just fine. But, that's not important right now. I need you to do something for me…" He took Mokuba by the hand and led him to a nearby ally way, and disappeared.

"What do you mean your mom's dead?" Yugi asked.

Seto put his head in his hands. "It happened when I was six. My father was working for Industrial Illusions when he and his co-workers decided Pegasus was treating them unfairly. They went on strike, but didn't realize that it would put their families in danger. Especially my mom." Seto held up the broken necklace. "She called this the Millennium Necklace and, I don't know why, but Pegasus wanted it. One night, my dad didn't come home from the picket line. Instead, Pegasus came to our door, demanding Mom's necklace. She refused to give it up and kicked him in the leg. Before I realized what was happening, she picked up Mokuba, grabbed me by the hand, and ran out the door. Pegasus was close behind, as if by magic. We hid in an abandoned lot and Mom gave both of us some kind of medicine. I blacked out after she kissed my forehead and told me to take care of Mokuba." 

Anzu looked on the verge of tears. "And you never saw her again?"

"No. I only remember waking up and she was nowhere to be found. The only trace of my mom that was left was the pieces of the Millennium Necklace."

Just then, there came a knock on the door. Jou, being the closest, opened the door. His jaw dropped. 

Standing there, was a beautiful young girl with bright green eyes and long red hair tied into a loose braid. She smiled, "Hi! Is Yugi Moto in this room?" 

Yugi stood up. "I'm Yugi Moto."

"I'm Aryella Kioto, I was assigned to take your group to the Valley of the Kings today," the mystery woman answered. She looked up at Jou, Honda, and Seto, who were all staring at her. Aryella giggled. "Your friends are cute," she told Yugi, as the boys blushed. Anzu looked embarrassed for them.

"I didn't know we were walking to the Valley," Honda complained.

"It's not too far off," Aryella assured him. 

As they reached the Valley, Aryella stopped suddenly. "Yugi," she said, almost in a trance. "I've noticed that you have the Millennium Puzzle around your neck,"

"Yeah! It's really important to me."

"There is a powerful presence in that puzzle," Aryella said, as she turned around menacingly. "A presence I must rid this world of!" Aryella grabbed at Yugi's puzzle, but he held it close to his heart. There was no way he'd let Yami be taken away from him. And Aryella realized that.

"Fine then," she said crossly. "At least let me have a word with the Pharaoh. Or at least a duel."

Yugi became engulfed in light and darkness. "YU-GI-OHHHHH!!!!!!!" he shouted to the heavens.

Yami emerged from the Millennium Puzzle. "Aryella Kioto. I accept your challenge." 

"Good," she replied, as she revealed a golden staff and held it high over her head. "Let's begin." As soon as these words left her lips, the earth parted, releasing two tall podiums. "This is how this duel will work. We will stand atop these pillars. We're both given 200 life points and 100 mana points. Use your mana to cast magic and to summon monsters. These will damage your opponent's life points. First one to either fall off their pillar or lose all their life points loses. Got it?"

Yami nodded, showing he understood the rules. 

When he arrived at the top of his podium, he called over to Aryella, "Tell me, Aryella, why do you want to duel me? What is it you have against me?"

Aryella glared at Yami. "You should know of all people, Pharaoh!" she shouted to him. "You ruined my life and drove me to insanity!"

Jou cut in, "You're nuts! We didn't even know you until a few hours ago!"

"You're wrong. Aryella didn't meet you until a few hours ago. But I've known Yami for five millennia."

Yami looked confused. "What do you mean?"

It was Aryella's turn to look confused. "You mean you don't remember? The great battle that brought an end to the Shadow Games? How can you not remember?!"

"Battle?" Honda asked. "What are you talking about?"

Aryella sighed. "To start off, my host's name is Aryella. I am called Jaina, Spirit of the Millennium Staff. I was an Egyptian princess of Ancient times. That's all YOU need to know!" With that, she swung her Staff in the air and shot a white beam at Jou, Honda, Seto, and Anzu. 

            Yami looked shocked. "How DARE you, you monster!"

            Aryella smiled as the dust from the blast cleared. The others seemed fine. Seto and Anzu dusted themselves off, but Jou and Honda just stood there, staring blankly. 

            "Are you guys alright?" Anzu asked in a shaken tone.

            "Well, I'm okay," Seto replied, snapping his fingers in front of Jou's nose. "But I'm not sure about these two."

            Yami started to grow angry. "What did you do to them!?!?"

            Aryella was still smiling. "Jou and Honda are my mind slaves now. They'll do anything I tell them."

            Anzu looked puzzled. "But…the blast hit all of us. How come Kaiba and I are still okay?"

            "The Staff's powers only affect men." Aryella explained. "Why it didn't work on you, Kaiba, is a mystery to me. But that doesn't matter right now." She turned to Yami. "If you want to save them, defeat me in this duel!"

            "Oh, I'll beat you, if that will save my friends!" Yami called back to her. "But tell me one thing. Why is it you want to duel me?"

            Aryella drew a deep breath and began her story. 

            "In years long forgotten, the high priest of Osiris had taken two apprentices: Kayla, who was training as a priestess of Isis, and Zakro, who trained in the dark arts as a priest of Set. They loved each other, but their codes of honor, set by the pharaoh himself, forbade it. Kayla listened to the pharaoh, but her lover wouldn't stand for it and left his apprenticeship as well as the one he loved. Zakro marched into the pharaoh's chambers and demanded the code be rewritten. The Pharaoh refused, claiming the code had been in place for centuries. In a rage, he challenged him and his followers to a duel with Kayla's future on the line. This duel soon erupted into an all out war. I was there, Yami. The high priest and his brother were killed in the first round. I was next, along with the pharaoh's two right hand men. Luckily, we were revived by Kayla's healing powers and Zakro was sealed within a golden ring. But, we noticed that the pharaoh was missing. All we found of him were scattered puzzle pieces. I tucked them away into a box and buried it here in the Valley. I loved the pharaoh so much and pined for him so much, that I let myself be bitten. And as the cobra's venom flowed through my veins, I shouted out his name, a name I can no longer remember."

            Yami listened to Aryella's story with much interest. "But, what does that have to do with me?"

            "It's hard to believe you'd forget your own sister, Yami," she cried out, tears streaming down her face."

            "SISTER?!?!" Seto and Anzu exclaimed together.

            "That's right," Aryella said, still crying. "I died thinking of you, brother. All those wasted years." She pointed to Yami. "And now YOUR going to pay!"

Relick: So what ya think? This was a pretty long chapter. So you know, the Millennium Staff's powers were an accident and weren't copied from the show. I'll update soon! Keep this chapter in mind when you read later chapters. Ja ne!!


	4. The Ferocious Nine Headed Hydra

Relick: Tee-hee! I knew you'd all like Aryella! Bet you didn't know her yami was Yami's sister. You didn't, right? 

Aryella: I guess they all love me more than you Relick!

Jaina: Nuh-uh! They want me!

Relick: Will you two just shut up! If it wasn't for me, you two wouldn't even exist! .*

Aryella & Jaina: ;__; sowwy…

Relick: That's alright! Now, for the yami issue… I'll call the characters by their yami's names when they switch. Yami Yugi is Yami (as usual) and Yami Aryella is Jaina. Yami Bakura will remain Ryou so I don't spoil the ending of the story! Now let's continue!!

Jaina glared at Yami, her eyes still flowing with tears. "Now, you'll pay for what you did, Yami. If your friends truly are more important than your kin, then defeat me!"

Yami nodded. "Fine, then."

"I'll go first, then." Jaina said, drawing a card from her deck. "I'll use two mana points to bring forth the Komori Dragon!" Two blue bubbles were released from her Staff, forming into the Komori Dragon. Seto and Anzu watched with amazement at the destructive creature. "And I'll use one mana point to play a card face down and end my turn. Your move."

Yami drew his card with uncertainty. He was still trying to figure out how the mana point usage worked. He looked at the drawn card. "The Dark Magician!" he thought to himself. "That one will come in handy once I figure out how to cast it." He looked up at Jaina. "I'll also play a card face down by spending one mana point." A blue bubble was released from Yami's Puzzle. "Your move."

"Yami has no idea what he's doing," Jaina thought to herself. "Serves him right, though." Then she said out loud, "Are you ready?! Because I use ten mana points to sacrifice my Komori Dragon to bring forth my ultimate creature! Arise Nine Headed Hydra!" As Jaina shouted out these words, a scarlet dragon with nine heads emerged. Without warning, Yami's mana points went down, revealing the Dark Magician. 

"What happened? I didn't play the Dark Magician!" Yami cried out.

"It's my Nine Headed Hydra's special ability." Jaina explained. "It has the power to draw out a monster from your hand using YOUR mana points!"

Yami's frustration started to grow. "That doesn't matter! Dark Magician! Use six mana points to attack Jaina's Hydra! Dark Magic Attack!"

The Dark Magician sent out its lethal spell, casting it towards the Nine Headed Hydra. When the dust cleared, the Hydra was still standing. But this time it had eleven heads instead of nine!

"But…that's impossible!" Yami shouted, looking at Jaina's 2300 point monster. "The Dark Magician is stronger!" 

Jaina laughed to herself. "I told you the Nine Headed Hydra was my ultimate monster. It's undefeatable! Every time you attack, a head flies off, revealing two more! And it gets stronger with every attack! Now! Herculean Poison Attack!"

Jaina's Hydra spat a green liquid at the Dark Magician. 

Yami hesitated. The Nine Headed Hydra was now at 2700 attack points, enough to destroy his monster. "I reveal my face down card, Mirror Force!"

The Hydra's attack blasted off the Dark Magician and back to where it came. 

"Nice try!" Jaina called. "But I play my face down card, Negate Attack!" The attack was neutralized, leaving both monsters unharmed.

"This is amazing!" Seto exclaimed. "This duel could go either way!"

Just then, something ran out from behind a stone and smacked into Anzu.

"MOKUBA!!!" Seto shouted at his brother. "What are you doing here!?!?" 

For the first time ever, Mokuba ignored his elder brother. "Yugi!!" he shouted. "Give me your Millennium Puzzle!!"

"What do you want with my Puzzle?" Yami asked. "You have no use for it."

"Ryou told me to get it from you or else he'll try to hurt Seto," Mokuba cried. "I don't want anything to happen to him!" 

Yami realized that Ryou's dark half must be trying to use Mokuba by threatening the one he cared most about. He looked down at him. Those bright, hopeful eyes were staring at him. "Mokuba," Yami said after some thought. "I can't give you my Millennium Puzzle. But I WILL protect you and your brother."

Mokuba didn't look to sure. "Just give me the Puzzle!" he shouted, bumping slightly into one of the pillars.

 It was Jaina's. Trying to maintain her balance, the Millennium Staff slipped through her fingertips. "NOOO!!! MY STAFF!!" she screamed as it flew through the air pummeling back to the earth below. Everyone stopped what they were doing to see what Jaina was yelling about. Light flashed, and Jaina looked as if she had just awoken from a dream. Jou and Honda woke up, too.

Aryella was back to normal. 

She looked very confused as she stared at Yami. "Yugi, what's going on?" she asked. Quite by accident, she looked down and screamed. "Someone help me!! Why am I standing on a skinny pole, eighty feet from the ground!?!?"

Seto grew concerned for her safety. "Aryella! Stop moving! You'll fall off!" But it was too late. Aryella slipped and was now falling back to earth. She then landed in Seto's arms. His face looked very pale.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

Aryella was too shocked to say anything except one thing, "Thanks."

Anzu walked over to her and handed over the Staff. "Well, the rules were whoever fell off first loses. So Yugi is the winner."

Yami jumped off the pillar. "Aryella," he said. "May I see your Millennium Staff?"

Aryella didn't look to comfortable handing him her Item, but did anyway. 

Yami closed his eyes and whispered to the Staff, "Jaina, I'm sorry I left you, sister. My soul has been within the Puzzle for five millennia, but I had no idea that it would hurt you so. Can you ever forgive your poor, foolish little brother?" As if in reply, the Staff emitted a warm feeling through Yami's body. Jaina had forgiven him. Light flashed. Yugi was back.

"Aryella, do you think you could help us?" he asked.

"How so?"

Yugi explained all about the letter and the upcoming duel with the Spirit of the Millenium Ring. 

"Oooh! Sounds exciting!" she replied. "I'm in!"

They now had a powerful ally on their side. "Look out, Ryou!" Yugi thought to himself. "Because here we come!"

Relick: WOW!! I updated pretty fast! Please review! We're reaching the end of the story, so enjoy while it lasts!   


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